


Father Knows Best

by WinterNight01



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: All Human AU, Birthdays, Crime Scene, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, Hank being a dad, Other, Stress, parenting, triplets au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterNight01/pseuds/WinterNight01
Summary: When Lieutenant Hank Anderson woke up that morning, he thought it would be a normal day, like any day. He did not think that this day would end with him adopting three boys from a crime scene.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story had been lingering in my brain for quite a while. I wanted to write it as a surprise for my two friends who dragged me back into this fandom.  
So I tried and here it is. I'm not the best writer, but I did my best, so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also, slight disclaimer: English isn't my first language, sorry for any mistakes.
> 
> (Future relationships will be added later)

‘Where there any witnesses?’ Lieutenant Hank Anderson had just arrived at the scene of crime. It was a homicide. Two people were brutally murdered. Very tragic, both the man and the woman were very young. They were also married. Only the body of the man, his name was Cedric Michaelsson, was found. Stabbed, multiple times and was left bleeding to death. 

‘No, the neighbours weren’t home when it happened and there were no ‘’random pedestrians’’ nearby,’ the officer answered.  
‘Then who called the police?’ Hank asked again.

‘My theory is that the woman fled upstairs, called the police, got caught by the murderer and also got murdered,’ here comes Mr Smug, Detective Reed. ‘Her body is probably still upstairs, nobody has been there yet.’

‘Well, why haven’t you looked there?’ it was almost unbelievable, you have a solid theory and you don’t even go looking if it’s true.  
‘Meh, I was busy looking for clues,’ Reed answered.

‘Fine, I will go looking upstairs,’ Hank grumbled and made his way back to the house. The floorboards creaked under his feet and he watched as the forensics did their job photographing and dusting everything, looking for evidence. He made his way to the staircase. There was no light upstairs, so he took his flashlight and started to illuminate the upper floor. The staircase also creaked. This was almost like a haunted house or some sort of scenario that can only happen in a horror movie. It was quiet upstairs, the only noise Hank heard were his own footsteps. 

Before him were three doors. One of them was closed, the other two slightly opened. 

‘The body must be behind the closed door’ he thought. He went over and shook the doorknob.  
It was locked. Why would the door be locked?

He shook the thought out of his mind and went into the bathroom. There were a few things that caught Hank’s eye. First, the shower curtain was closed, that always means something. Second, there was a phone on the floor. Damnit, Reed must be right. That would only inflate his ego.  
Hank stepped over the phone and grabbed the shower curtain. He yanked it away, only to reveal a severed torso with one arm, one leg and the head attached. It was the body of Hannah Michaelsson. She was sitting in a puddle of her own blood, which was also splattered on the wall behind her. Reed was right all along, but where were her missing limbs that had been cut off?

Hank walked out of the bathroom and into the other room that was opened. It was a bedroom. That is where he found the other leg and arm, together with a… Is that a note? From the killer?

They were supposed to be mine, bitch

This is definitely from the killer, but what does he mean? 

He walked further into the room, stopped when he heard the crunching sound of glass that he apparently stepped on. The window was broken, probably the place where the killer escaped. A bloodied axe was laying underneath said window. 

‘FOUND ANYTHING, ANDERSON?’ another officer was yelling at him from beneath the stairs. 

‘UH YEAH,’ He yelled back.

He heard multiple footsteps on the staircase. This triggered some kind of alarm, because there was a loud noise coming from one of the rooms.  
‘Ignore it, it’s just an alarm, we’ll fix it later,’ Reed was standing next to Hank.

‘No, this isn’t an alarm,’ Hank shortly said and he went over to the room where the source of this alarm must have been located.

It was behind the locked door where he earlier tried to look. But now that he was closer, it didn’t sound like an alarm anymore, it sounded more like..

A baby crying?

Did the Michaelsson’s have any children?

He jiggled the knob. Nothing. The crying had started to sound more like wailing. 

Time to use his shoulder. He drew himself back and slammed into the door, once, twice, trice until it finally opened.

The room was mostly dark, only illuminated by a tiny night-light in the corner next to the door. The walls were painted light blue with some tiny white clouds. This was undoubtedly a baby room. Right at the back wall of the room, underneath a window, were three, white cribs.  
‘Three?’ Hank said, a little too hard. He walked over to one of cribs, the one on the right, the one where the wailing was coming from. A baby was crying his eyes out, flailing his little hands around him. Hank’s dad instincts kicked in and he picked up the baby.  
‘Shh, shh, it’s okay, I’m here now,’ he said to the baby as he rocked them. 

‘Uh, what are you doing?’ Detective Reed was standing in the doorway. ‘Comforting a crying child, their parents have been brutally murdered today,’ Hank answered blankly. 

‘Yeah, I can see that, should we call an adoption centre or Child Protecting Services?’ Reed asked.

Hank was silent, still rocking the child, which had now calmed down and was looking up to Hank with their big brown eyes. ‘Well, aren’t you stunning,’ he cooed at the baby. ‘Are your siblings as stunning as you?’ he looked over at the other two babies, who were still sleeping peacefully.  
Reed was watching the entire thing, feeling quite uncomfortable with this ‘’new version’’ of Hank that he’d never seen before. ‘Did you hear what I said, Lieutenant?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Hank paused for a bit. ‘And the answer is no,’ he finally answered.

‘No, what do you mean no?’ I asked if we should call Child Protecting Services or an adoption centre?’

‘And I said no, I’ll take care of them,’ 

‘Pff, alright,’ Reed scoffed and walked away, leaving Hank alone with the three babies.

\- 30 minutes later -

One of the other officers, officer Wilson, who was at the crime scene went upstairs to look where Lieutenant Hank Anderson was. None of them saw him for about half an hour and, as much as they don’t want to admit it, they were starting to get worried. 

But the state he found Hank in, it was probably the last thing he thought he would see. 

Hank was still in the baby room, sitting in the wooden rocking chair, softly rocking while holding two babies with the ever so softest smile on his face. He was looking at the third baby next to him in the crib. 

‘Uhm, Lieutenant? Is everything alright? We have been looking for you for the past 10 minutes or so,’ Hank looked up at his co-worker. 

‘Yeah, I’m alright, found these three little ones. Must be traumatic, not even a week old and no parents left,’ 

‘Gavin said you’re gonna call the adoption centre for them,’

‘Hell no, they’re coming home with me,’

‘What? You can’t even take decent care of yourself, Hank. How are you gonna take care of three babies?’

‘I’m willing to change myself for that matter, but they need a safe home and I am willing to give them that!’  
‘Hank, listen man, you can’t just…’

‘I can and I will! Watch me!’ Hank interrupted him. He stood up from the rocking chair, laid the babies back in their cribs and began rummaging in the closet. He came out with three car seats and a big duffel bag. He filled the bag with all the clothes, blankets, diapers, stuffed animals and toys he could fit in it. He plopped it down by the door and began strapping the babies in the car seats, very carefully, one by one. All the while Wilson was watching what he was doing. 

Hank wasn’t bluffing, he was determined to take these babies home with him.

‘What about registration?’ Wilson asked.

‘I’ll make a stop at the office while I’m on my way home,’ Hank answered, just strapping in baby number 2.  
The officer stayed silent for a bit.

‘You need help with that?’ he pointed at the seats and the bag.

‘Oh, uh, yeah,’ Hank was already holding two car seats in his hands, so Wilson picked up the third one and the duffel bag. Apparently, detective Reed was still present at the house. 

‘Planning a road trip? How far is this adoption centre anyways?’ he laughed.

Hank ignored him, but Wilson did the talk. ‘He’s adopting them himself and talking them home,’

‘He’s what now?’

‘You heard him, goodnight Reed,’ Hank huffed and walked towards his car. There was just enough space for all of the seats to fit. The duffel bag was loaded in the trunk. ‘Good luck,’ officer Wilson said and with that, Hank drove away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Hank named his now adopted boys and their first night at home as a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit!  
It doesn't sound as much, but 12 kudo's and 110 hits is incredible to me!  
Everyone, thanks to much for reading! I hope you'll also enjoy this part.

It was currently 4:47 AM. Hank was driving home from the register office with his now three sleeping sons in their seats on the backseat. How did he find out that the babies were boys? A very awkward diaper change in the bathrooms. After he found out that the one he was changing was a boy, he figured out, since they were (almost) identical, the other two had to be boys as well.

Then it came to naming them. 

‘And what are their names, mister Anderson?’ the lady at the desk asked Hank.

‘Uhm…’ he hadn’t really thought of names. Did they have names already or not? He looked around the room for inspiration. Apparently, that lasted very long, because the woman got impatient and handed him 3 papers. 

‘You can sit there and think of names, fill them in and come back,’ Hank grabbed the papers and returned to the spot where three car seats were standing around a bench. 

Hank sat down and looked at the baby that was in the seat next to him. ‘Now what should your name be?’ he asked the child, who, obviously, was not going to respond. The boy stared back at him with his big brown eyes. Hank looked around the room. There was one other man sitting across from him, also a paper and a pen in his hands. He looked very tired. 

‘You also have no idea what to call your child?’ Hank asked the stranger.

‘No, well, yes, I don’t know,’ the stranger replied. ‘My wife and I talked about names we liked, but now it’s up to me to make a choice.’

‘Maybe I can help, so you can maybe give me some inspiration for my boys,’ Hank suggested. The stranger looked up. ‘Oh right, yeah,’ he said.

‘I’m Todd, by the way,’

‘Hank,’

‘So, my wife and I had the following names in mind: Ricky, Dennis, Chandler or Gabe,’ Luke explained.

‘Mhmm, yes,’

‘But the baby turned out to be a girl, so I’m lost,’

‘That sucks man, maybe you like the name Alice? My wife loved to read stories, read these ones Alice in Wonderland over and over,’ Hank smiled. It was a blunt lie, but would you tell some stranger you just met that you adopted your sons from a crime scene after their parents were brutally murdered?  
Yeah, me neither. This was his story now.

‘Alice… I quite like that, thanks Hank,’ Todd said, scribbled the name down and stood up to walk back to the desk.  
Hank was now again left alone with his boys and no clue what to name them. 

Maybe name one Ben? No, not after his shit excuse of a father. Or maybe Patrick, a play on his mother’s name. 

No, that name didn’t fit any of them.

The boys were definitely triplets. But two were identical, the other fraternal. Two boys had amazing warm, brown eyes, while the other had blue eyes like the ocean. Hank was in love with them. 

‘Is one of you a Gabriel?’ he asked them softly. No noise meant a no, a small gurgle or babble meant a yes. Nothing. Two sets of confused brown eyes and one set of droopy blue ones. 

‘Alright, a David maybe?’

… nothing.

‘Do I have to go by the entire alphabet?’ he asked.  
One of the babies made a noise. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Hank sighed.

‘Is someone an Alfred? Please, don’t be an Alfred?’

Nothing.

‘Okay, that’s good,’ Hank smiled. ‘The B,’

He sighed. ‘Someone a Ben?’ he regretted that he asked, but none reacted.

He breathed out heavily. ‘Thank God,’ he said.

‘Someone a…’ Hank started. ‘Someone a Connor?’

It was silent for a moment. Than, the baby next to him, with his big, warm, brown eyes let out a cry.  
Hank smiled. ‘So you are Connor!’ He grabbed his pen and the paper with ‘’Connor’s’’ information on it and wrote: Connor Anderson.

He quickly came up with two other names for the other boys, handed in the papers and loaded everyone back in the car.

\- 10 minutes later -

Hank stepped into his house, carrying a giant duffel bag and two car seats. The third was already inside. Sumo sprung to his feet to inspect what his owner had brought home this time.

‘Well Sumo, say hello to Connor, Conan and Caleb Anderson,’ Hank petted his dog after putting the seats and the bag down. Sumo sniffed at one of the babies. He winced at the sudden presence of the dog and stretched his little arms out in front of him. This frightened Sumo as he shuffled back and went back to his bed. Hank smiled.

‘Welcome home, boys,’

He admired his boys for a while until he thought it was time for bed. Now, there was a slight problem. He didn’t have any cribs for the babies and leaving them in the car seats didn’t sound very comfortable.

He got up from the couch, walked over to the bag he left in the kitchen and opened it. He grabbed three onesies and three blankets to swaddle the babies. Looking up a quick tutorial on how to swaddle the babies and took them one by one to his bedroom. Conan was up first, his blue eyes opening for a second and immediately closing again, being fast asleep. 

He undressed his son, redressed him in a white onesie with little arrows and did his first attempt at swaddling him. Luckily, Conan didn’t even fuss.   
Eventually, Hank had to look up the tutorial again after his fourth attempt was also a failure. Following the tutorial again helped him, because he had it correct this time. 

He laid Conan on the sheets, in the middle of the bed and went to get the next boy. It was Connor.

After a few minutes, Connor was also swaddled and fast asleep next to his brother. Caleb joined them after a few minutes. Hank could get the hang of this. He changed into his pyjamas, went over to the guess room and dragged the mattress towards his own bedroom. He was settling in to sleep on the floor, so he would have an eye on his boys and be close to them the entire time. 

He bent over the boys and kissed each of them on the forehead.

‘Sweet dreams, boys, dad loves you,’ he said and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe consider to follow my Twitter? It's @ThiriumAddict  
I'm currently busy with a project (which also involes Detroit Become Human) and I'm documenting everything there for some reason. If you're interested to follow me during this ''journey'', pls give it a look!  
(I'm very bad at self promoting, sorry)
> 
> :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Hank is handeling his first day of fatherhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am shocked by all the positive feedback I get from this story! It amazes me how many people can like my story! Thanks everyone so much!!!

The morning that followed had been very hectic. Hank woke up to two of the three boys crying. They both needed a diaper change and a bottle feed. The other, Caleb, was still sound asleep. Hank would wake him up later for his diaper change and feed, he figured he would be needing that too.

Before he went and got one of his sons from the bed, we went over to the kitchen. He grabbed the bag of the floor and started to search for the things he needed. He got some diapers, three bottles and lucky for him, there was one can of baby formula. He looked at the ‘’instructions’’ on the packaging and went to warm some water. He put some scoops of the formula in each bottle and waited for the water to warm up. In the meantime, he’d made a makeshift changing pillow out of an old throw pillow and some blankets. He got three pairs of clothes ready and got the first crying baby. 

Hank picked up Connor from the bed. He was by far the loudest crier out of the three, so Hank thought it would be good to get him first.   
‘’Hey buddy, it’s alright, calm down, dad’s got you,’’ Hank rocked Connor, in an attempt to calm him down. Connor calmed down for a moment, before crying just as hard as before. Hank sighed, this was going to be a hard morning. 

He laid Connor down on the ‘’changing pillow’’ and got ready to change him. He’d gotten some wipes from the bag and moved the trash can closer to get rid of all the dirty things. Hank was almost flabbergasted to how such a tiny human could produce such a smell. It was awful. He was almost tempted to get a mask or something before he went to change the next one, but he had to deal with this until they were potty trained, so better get used to it?   
Connor no longer fussed and was now a lot calmer. Hank redressed him in some grey onesie he found and put him in one of the car seats that was by the couch where he left them the night before.

He gave Connor a pacifier to suck on and a stuffed animal. 

Hank went back into the bedroom, where Caleb was still sleeping, even though his brother was crying right next to him. He picked up Conan, as it was his time to get his change. 

‘’I sure hope you’re a lot less stinky than your brother, right Conan?’’ he said to his son.

Well, as it turned out, Conan could produce the same awful smell has his brother. Hank made a note to get rid of the trash immediately after he was done with his boys. He dressed Conan in some blue clothes and got him over to the couch as well. He looked at the seat that Connor was in and his heart melted at the scene he saw before him.

Sumo was curled around the seat with Connor in it, like he was protecting him. Hank got out his phone and snapped a picture of this moment. He set Conan down in a car seat and purposely scooted it closer to Connor and Sumo. 

He went to check on Caleb real quick. Still sleeping. That gave him some time to feed Connor and Conan for a moment and give his full attention to the youngest.   
He made two of the bottles he set ready before and went over to the couch. He got Connor on one arm and put a pillow under his elbow to give extra support to Connor’s head. He did the same for Conan on his other arm. He struggled to find the right angle to put his hand so that the babies could feed. He got it right after a while.   
He looked at the boys. Connor was a very fast drinker. His brown eyes were focussed on the bottle. Conan was much calmer. He was looking between the bottle and his father with his big blue eyes.   
Hank smiled at them. How did this suddenly became his life? He was grateful for it, he always wanted to be a father and now was his chance.   
He looked back at Connor and was shocked that his bottle was already empty. He removed the bottle and set it aside. He waited until Conan was also done to burp them both. 

‘’Your brother does like to sleep, as it seems,’’ he said as he has just finished burping both boys.   
Right after he said it, Caleb started crying. ‘’Speak of the devil,’’ Hank laughed as he gave Conan his pacifier back. He made his way back into the bedroom to fetch his last crying boy. 

‘’You had a good night sleep, didn’t you?’’ Hank asked him, whilst picking him up. Caleb just continued crying. Hank changed him (Caleb was also a ‘’stinky one’’) and got his bottle ready. He was standing in the kitchen, Caleb laying in his arms, happily drinking from the bottle, when the doorbell rang. Confused, he made his way over and tried to open the door, but it was quite a struggle while feeding your kid. He eventually got it open. 

‘’Hi there!’’ it was Veronica, his neighbour.

‘’Oh, hey Veronica,’’ Hank said.

‘’Sorry to bother you Hank, but is everything alright?’’ she asked.

‘’Yeah, why would it not be?’’

‘’Well, Olivia heard loud crying coming out of your house and I was wondering… oh’’ she trailed off, looking at the ‘’thing’’ that Hank was holding. ‘’Since when do you have a child?’’ she asked bluntly.

‘’Oh, yeah, that’s a long story,’’ Hank said, with a slight smile on his face. ‘’There’s three of them, actually,’’ he said after she was staring at him a bit too long.   
‘’Three? Where are the other two?’’ Veronica made her way into the house and Hank closed the door. 

‘’Right there, Sumo is laying by them, this one just woke up,’’ Veronica was absolutely amazed that her grumpy neighbour suddenly had three kids.  
‘’Do you have any baby stuff? Because I have some over from when Olivia was a baby, I can give them to you, we have no use for it now,’’ she smiled at him.  
‘’I would appreciate that, thank you,’’ Hank said and Veronica left the house to get the stuff.

Minutes later, after Caleb had spit all over Hank’s shoulder and was now taking a nap in his car seat and Hank changed his shirt, Veronica came back with like, 6 big boxes of stuff. They contained a lot of clothes (sadly, most of it was girl clothes), some toys, a baby box, a play mat, a bouncy chair and a crib.   
‘’Thank Veronica, but it’s not enough and I have three boys to be exact,’’ Hank said. ‘’But most of this I can actually use!’’

‘’You know, I can watch your kids for a while if you need to get anymore stuff,’’ Veronica suggested. 

‘’Uh, yeah, thanks, but I must warn you, they’re quite a handful being just a week old,’’ Hank joked and went to get his coat.

‘’I can handle it,’’ Veronica smiled back and Hank left to get some extra stuff.

\- An hour later -

Hank returned to his house with two more cribs, a stroller that was specially made for triplets, two more bouncy chairs, more diapers and formula, a changing table + pillow and some extra sets of clothes for when the boys were a big bigger. In the store, he passed by some stuffed animals and toys. He saw Saint Bernard stuffed animals and couldn’t leave them there. He picked up three and went over to the cash register.

He got home and set the boxes in the hallway. He walked over to the living room to see Sumo curled around the three empty car seats. Hank panicked, where were his boys?

He looked over and saw that Veronica had set up the baby box and the three brothers were laying in there, mostly sleeping or looking around. He went over to the play pen and smiled at his sons. ‘’Is that more of less comfortable than the car seats?’’ he jokingly said to them and kissed them on their foreheads.  
‘’Veronica? I’m back!’’ he called.

‘’In here!’’ her voice came from the guest room.

He walked over and saw that Veronica had turned the guest room in a potential baby room, by putting the crib in there and the boxes with toys and clothes (she had separated all the girly clothes and the gender neutral clothes) were next to the door. 

‘’I thought that this would be a good place for a baby room, so I put the crib back together, as well as the baby box,’’ she smiled, seeming proud of herself. ‘’I can help setting up the rest, if that’s okay?’’ she asked.

‘’Sure, I can use some help,’’ Hank smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First words, cuddling with Sumo and Hank having a break down at the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for some reason very difficult to write, so sorry for the shorter chapter!

TIME JUMP!  
\- Six months later -

‘And they lived happily ever after,’ Hank closed the book, startling one of his sons on his lap. Conan blinked with his big eyes and started to whine. ‘Oh no, Co, don’t start again,’ Hank started. But it was a little too late. The alarm was going off. Conan was crying, loudly. 

Hank set down Caleb and Connor on the couch and lifted Conan to snuggle on his shoulder. His little hand grabbed his t-shirt as Hank bounced him a little to calm him down. It took about two minutes to calm the boy down.

In the meantime, Sumo had laid his head onto the couch to be with the other two boys. Connor had really taken a liking of Sumo in the last couple of weeks. He started to make grabby hands at the dog and giggled whenever Sumo’s fur tickled him. Hank adored this. 

Connor scooted forward and landed on his belly on the couch, laying half on Sumo’s neck. Hank’s heart melted at the sight. Connor was slowly falling asleep, just as his brother who was snuggling on their dad’s shoulder. Caleb’s eyes were also getting a little droopy.

‘Alright you three, I can see that it’s time for bed,’ Hank whispered as he picked up Caleb as well.

\- Three days later -

Hank came into the station, looking like a zombie. He went straight to the break room to get a coffee before he started. Detective Reed was also in said break room.  
‘Oh, you look good Hank!’ he said mockingly.

‘Shut up, Reed,’ Hank grumbled back.

Connor, Conan and Caleb had trouble sleeping the last couple of days. That meant hours of crying and having to comfort the boys late at night. That also meant that Hank didn’t get any decent sleep. 

‘Finally you see why it was a bad idea taking those kids,’ Gavin said back.

‘Don’t you fucking talk about my boys like that, Reed, or I’ll break your fucking nose!’ Hank grabs Gavin by his shirt and balls his fist.

‘That enough, Hank!’ it was Fowler. He let go of Gavin’s shirt and stepped away. 

‘I know how stressed you are with three infants,’ Fowler began, but Hank wavered him off. ‘You have no idea,’ he murmured. ‘Conan gets so easily scared by every sound these days and Caleb had been having cramps and Connor is just wailing.’ ‘I don’t know what to do,’ It almost looked like Hank had a break down. 

‘It just hard coping with all of this alone,’ Hank was a single parent after all. A single parent of triplets. The day he found those boys at the house of the crime scene, he didn’t think it would be this hard. But it’s not, it is definitely not easy. 

He went over to his desk and sat down, his coffee cup almost empty. He went to checking files on his computer when his phone started buzzing. It was a text from Veronica, his neighbour. After helping him with the nursery, Veronica had offered herself as babysitter for the boys whenever Hank had to go to work. Veronica had two kids herself, Molly and Olivia, being 7 and 5 years old. 

Veronica sent a picture of the boys sitting on her couch, all three smiling with the widest grins Hank has ever seen. He couldn’t help but smile at his boys. They were growing up so fast. Like last week, when Caleb actually said his first word.

\- One week earlier -

Hank had just gotten back from a walk with Sumo and the boys. He had taken the boys out of the stroller and laid them in the baby box. Connor immediately rolled over, because he liked to be on his tummy. He hung up his coat and went to the kitchen to make dinner for himself. Suddenly, Caleb started babbling really loud, trying to get his father’s attention. Hank walked over to the baby box, being greeted by Connor’s back, a sleeping Conan and Caleb babbling away. He picked up Caleb and started rocking him.

‘Hey little buddy, you trying to tell me something?’ he asked Caleb. 

Caleb looked up at his dad, giving a concentrated look with his warm, brown eyes. His mouth opening and closing.

And then it happened.

‘Da-da,’ it came in two separate parts.

Hank was baffled. He looked at his son in disbelieve and a great, big smile broke out of his face. ‘You… You just said your first word!’ he laughed.

‘You just said your first word!’ he repeated, laughing harder and lifting Caleb in the air. Oh, the joy and pride he was feeling. It felt like a small victory to him.  
After that, he kept saying to Connor and Conan to also say Dada. 

‘Can you say Dada? Conny, can you say dada?’ Connor just looked at him confused. 

‘Conan~’ he sang. ‘Co, can you also say dada?’ also nothing, just a confused pair of blue eyes. 

He eventually gave up and started reading the boys before bedtime. Veronica told him to do so, because she did it with Molly and Olivia when they were babies.

Every night, Hank got a picture book, set all three boys on his lap and started reading. The only downside from this is that Conan got startled everything Hank closed the book and started crying.

And that has been their evening routine for the past month.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More morning moments with Dada and a strange ''break in'' situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who has read my fic, gave it kudos, left a comment etc.! It makes me so happy to see people enjoying my stuff!!  
Also shoutout to my friends who inspired me to write this fic! You know who you are, you guys are awesome!

*The boys are now nine months old*

It was currently 8:26 am in the morning. Hank was seated at the kitchen table with his breakfast next to him and three high chairs in front of him. In each of those chairs was a nine month old boy. They were growing up so fast.

Hank was feeding the boys some baby food, a mixture of all kinds of fruits in this applesauce like texture. The boys loved this. After the fruit mixture, they would get their bottles. 

Hank took a sip of his coffee. Caleb didn’t agree that his dad could have breakfast as well, so he started getting a little grumpy, flailing his Piglet security blanket around and screeching ‘Dada! Dada!’.

‘Yes buddy, dada will give you some more food, but dada also needs his own breakfast,’ he said to his son after the second sip. He picked up the jar and spoon, scooped some up and fed some to his son. But of course, the spoon was now an airplane.

‘Swoooshh, this airplane needs to land on airbase C. Anderson mouth, please open up!’ Caleb clapped his hands and happily opened his mouth to welcome the food. Hank scooped up another spoonful for Caleb’s neighbour, Connor. But Connor was too distracted by his Pooh security blanket that he didn’t notice the food presented to them.

‘Earth to Connor? Somebody there?’ Hank asked, lightly tapping Connor’s head. Connor looked up at his father and immediately opened his mouth to accept the spoon. 

Hank turned to Conan, who was just patiently waiting. His Tigger security blanket had fallen onto the floor. ‘Already acting like you don’t need it, but yet, you can’t sleep without it,’ Hank said while picking the cuddly toy up. He set it on the table and fed Conan a spoonful of fruit mash as well. After that, Conan immediately began making grabby hands towards his Tigger toy and Hank gave it to him. 

‘Now dada has some of his breakfast and then you lot get another round,’

‘Dada! Dada!’ Conan said.

‘Good job, Co! You’re getting better at saying dada,’ he smiled and patted his son on the head. 

\- 10 minutes later -

Hank had finished his own breakfast and feeding the boys their baby food and all three of them were now sucking on a bottle of milk while Hank did the washing up and got dressed. Just as he got out of his bedroom, pulling his shirt down, someone knocked on his door. It sounded urgent.

‘I’m not coming to the station, I have a day off to spend with my boys,’ he grumbled to himself, thinking it was one of his co-workers. It actually wasn’t. When he opened the door, there was a lady standing behind it, she didn’t look older than 45, maybe 50? 

‘Uhm, hello? Can I help…’

‘You took my grandbabies!’ she half-yelled and pointed at Hank.

‘Uuuhh, sorry?’ Hank said. Was this woman accusing him of stealing children? Who even was this woman?

‘Yeah, you took them, I know it! It took me a whole 8 months to find you buddy!’ she continued pointing at Hank.

‘Ma’am, I think you have the wrong person, I don’t know who you are!’ Hank said back, throwing his hands up in front of his chest.

‘Oh, you know who I am! I am Julia Michaelsson!’ she said, a cunning smirk on her face.

‘Ah, you’re Cedric’s mother,’

‘Yes! My boy was brutally murdered and you took his children!’

‘Ma’am, when we found them, my team contacted everyone in their family, but no one answered,’ Blunt lie, but he hoped it was working. ‘You never answered and now you’re here, claiming these kids,’

‘Yes, because they’re rightfully mine,’

‘I legally adopted them, so they are my sons now,’

‘Oh no, they are not! I came here to collect my grandbabies and I am going home with them,’ she walked into the house, pushing right past Hank and stared at the boys in the high chairs across from her.

‘Oh my dear Isaac, Hudson and Nolan, how big you’ve grown! Oh, granny’s going to take you home and get you away from this creepy man,’ she started making her way towards them, but Hank stopped her.

‘Ma’am, I’m going to ask you to leave!’ he said, putting his hand in front of him to stop her. 

‘exCUSE ME!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU KIDNAPPED THOSE BABIES! I AM TAKING THEM SOMEWHERE SAME!!!’ she was yelling and screaming and just making a huge scene at this point.

‘Ma’am, please calm down and I’ll escort you back outdoors,’

‘I WILL NOT LEAVE WITHOUT MY BABIES!’

Conan (or Nolan, according to this woman) was easily scared by sounds, so hearing this woman shout and scream at their dad was very scary. ‘Dada…’ he began, followed by some slight sniffling and a huge wail. 

‘Oh no,’ Hank mumbled and left the woman standing in the middle of his living room to comfort his son.

He picked him up out of his high chair, set the bottle back on the tray and got Conan his Tigger, so he could snuggle with it until he calmed down (he always did this and it always worked). 

‘Shh shh, buddy, dada’s got you, it’s okay,’ he said to his son, bouncing him a little.

‘NO, IT IS NOT OKAY, I WILL CALL THE POLICE!’ Julia got her phone out of her pocket.

‘First of all, that wouldn’t work, because I work for the DPD, and second, could you calm down? My son is easily scared by loud sounds,’

‘HE. IS. NOT. YOUR. SOOOOONNN!!!’ she screamed. Conan started to wail harder, clutching one hand in his dad’s shirt and the other in his Tigger blanket.

‘He is, and if you don’t leave my house now, I will arrest you, ma’am,’

‘You can’t do that,’

‘I can and I will, so the best thing you can do is leave my house and never come back, or else, I will get you arrested, do you understand?’

‘Now why would I even believe you?’

‘Okay, have it your way,’ Hank reached for his phone and dialled the number for the station.

It took 3 rings before Gavin picked up.

‘Waddaya want, Hank?’ he said annoyed.

‘Yeah, I have to report a house break in, a woman broke into my house and tried to kidnap my sons,’ Hank answered.

Julia, still standing across from him, went white as a sheet. ‘I… I didn’t do anything wrong!’ she started.

‘Oh no, of course you didn’t,’ Hank said mockingly.

‘No! no, I’m innocent!’

‘We’re on our way, Anderson,’ Gavin hung up the phone. 

It took 5 minutes before a police car arrived with Detective Reed and Officer Person. Reed took Michaelsson to the car and Person went inside to talk to Hank.  
‘You alright?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I am, thanks,’ he said, sitting back down with a still sniffling Conan to his shoulder. 

‘Alright, take care, see you tomorrow at the station,’ Officer Person said and went back to the car.

Hank sighed, why did this have to happen to him?

It was silent for a moment.

‘Dada!’ Caleb said happily, throwing his hands and his Piglet toy up in the air.

Hank patted his head. ‘Yeah buddy, I am your dada,’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks: Why does Caleb have a pink Piglet security blanket?  
Beating gender roles, that's why!  
Or Hank just found a Pooh and a Tigger and couldn't find an Eeyore and did want a set together, so he just got Piglet, that's why.  
And Piglet is actually a boy, for those who don't know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor, Conan and Caleb celebrate their first Halloween with the most perfect costumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is really cute. I aww'ed while writing it. I hope you aww as well when reading it.
> 
> Fun fact: We don't celebrate Halloween in the country I live. I would like to, but oh well.

*The boys are now 10 months old*

October 30th, 8:45 pm.

Hank had just ended his shift and was getting his stuff ready to go back home. They had to arrest a group of teenagers that evening, who dressed up as killer clowns and scared people in the neighbourhood as an early Halloween prank. They caught them walking around with real weapons, so they were in custody now, staying a while at the police station.

Hank made his way to his car. He had something to pick up on his way back home. He had texted Veronica, asking her if she could watch the boys for a little longer. She had no problem with that.

He drove into the parking lot of a Halloween store, parked the car and walked in. He was on a mission. Veronica had an idea she had pitched to him a couple of weeks ago. ‘What if you joined and the boys joined me, Molly and Olivia for Trick or Treat around the neighbourhood? It will be just an hour, Hank, it will be fun!’ she had proposed. He thought this was a good idea. He had never really celebrated Halloween before, but he was willing to make it a fun tradition for his boys to celebrate Halloween every year. 

So, he needed some costumes. Veronica told him it was ‘’way more fun’’ to dress the boys up, she has done it every year with her girls. He remembered last year, when he opened to door to two small bumblebees and a beekeeper. Veronica was always matching with her girls on Halloween, so Hank thought he would to the same with his boys.

He roamed the isles, looking at all the costumes displayed on the shelfs, but there wasn’t anything that caught his eye. Like, there were little cow onesies and he would be a farmer, but that didn’t excite him. He could dress them as wild life and him as a hunter, or was that a little too gruesome? 

He walked further into the isles and saw some Winnie the Pooh costumes, but he didn’t want their first Halloween to be dressed as their favourite toys. 

It was in the fifth isle he walked in where he found, as he would describe as, the most perfect costumes for his boys and he knew exactly how to pair it up to match them.

\- 30 minutes later -

Hank arrived at Veronica’s house and knocked on her door. She opened the door and let him in. ‘Caleb and Conan are asleep on my bed,’ she said. 

‘And Connor?’ Hank asked.

‘DADA!’ a loud squeal came from the couch. 

‘Right over there,’ Veronica laughed.

Hank made his way over to the couch and saw Connor sitting, who was apparently still wide awake.

‘Aren’t you sleepy, Conny?’ Connor giggled as his father picked him up. ‘I should get your brothers as well,’

15 minutes later, Hank had all his boys tucked into their cribs, all sleeping (it didn’t take long for Connor to fall asleep as well). He went over to his closet and started to rummage through it to find his ‘’costume’’ for the next day. He eventually found it in the back, in some old storage box. ‘Perfect,’ he whispered to himself, eyes glistening with pride as he held his ‘’costume’’ in his hands.

October 31st, 7:04 am

At this point, Hank didn’t need an alarm clock. He was woken up by the sound of the boys crying. Alright, morning routine. Diaper change – dress the boys – get food ready for boys and himself – feed everyone – bottle of milk – walk Sumo. 

He has done this for the last two months, he was so used to it. Just after he got Caleb dressed and set him in his high chair, his phone went off. It was a text from Veronica. ‘’We are ready at 4:00 pm, we hope you lot as well’’ it read. 

That meant Hank had a lot of time on his hands to get everything ready. 

‘Your first Halloween, boys!’ he said excitedly to his boys, while getting their daily fruit mash ready.

\- Several hours later -

It was around 3:15 pm when Hank thought it would be a good idea to get the boys ready, because dressing three babies is quite a task. He took the changing pillow into the living room, so that he didn’t need to walk the hallway up and down each time. 

‘Who is gonna be my first victim!’ Hank said as he slowly made his way towards the boys, who were laying on the play mat. Connor and Conan squealed and giggled as they rolled over, trying to crawl away from their dad. Caleb was more interested in a toy car that he was holding. Hank creeped behind his crawling sons and eventually caught Conan, lifting him in the air. Conan was laughing and squealing like crazy, he was so happy. 

But when Hank laid him down on the changing pillow, Conan tried to crawl away again, thinking this was some sort of game. This happened about three times more after Hank got him to lay down calm and got him dressed in his costume. The costume existed of a black and white striped sweater, black pants, little black socks, a black eye mask and a black beanie. The costume also had little money sacks, but Hank wasn’t going to use them.

You guessed it, Connor, Conan and Caleb were dressed as three little bandits/thieves with their dad dressed in one of his old DPD police uniforms, so he was the cop.   
Hank and the boys were all ready at 3:55 pm, just when Hank was loading them into the stroller, there was a knock at the door. He opened it and was welcomed by 3 pirates.

‘Well, look at you, mister Police man!’ Veronica said excitedly. ‘You look amazing!’

‘I hope you’re not here to steal all my money, I just had to arrest these three,’ Hank joked, pointing at the stroller.

Molly and Olivia went to look. ‘Mommy! They are dressed as bandits!’ Olivia said happily. 

‘A cop and some bandits, nice one Hank!’ Veronica nudged his shoulder. ‘You followed my advice,’ he added. 

‘Mommy! Can we go now, I wanna go Trick or Treat!’ Molly really wanted to go out.

‘Alright, let’s go!’ Veronica was making her way back to the door.

‘Oh wait, I have to get their toys before we go,’ Hank said as he already started walking towards the hallway, stopped halfway, crouched down to Olivia’s height and whispered: ‘Conan acts all tough already, but he can’t go anywhere without his Tigger blanket,’

Olivia giggled quietly. ‘I know,’ she half whispered back. ‘He also sucks his thumb, but stops when we see him,’

Hank gave her a soft smile, stood up and got the toys. He gave the toys to his sons and made his way towards the door.

‘Let’s go then! I need to get these to baby jail,’ Hank said, pushing the stroller towards the front door. Olivia and Molly giggled to each other. ‘There is no baby jail!’ Molly half screamed to Hank, all excited and happy.

‘Oh yes there is, little miss, there definitely is and these bad boys are going there!’ Hank said back.

‘OY MATEY’S! We need to get the precious booty!’ Veronica roared. ‘Are ye coming with me?’

‘AYE AYE CAPTAIN!’ the girls yelled and they all left the house for Trick or Treat. Even with Sumo dressed as a police man (it was just a police cap, but that was enough for Sumo)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the boys' first birthday!! A strange event takes place that almost ruined Hank's mood and Veronica is asked a very special question..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I was tired and didn't really know how to continue, but it's here and I hope you like it!!

December 10th, it was the boys’ first birthday.

Hank had fallen asleep on the kitchen table working on the last bits and bobs for the party. Well, party.. A few of Hank’s colleagues would come to visit, as well as Veronica and her daughters. He had debated on celebrating it on their actual birthday or a week after, for being a year in Hank’s life. He decided after a long time it would be better to do it on their actual birthday (and Veronica said so too).

He woke up, it was currently 4 am or so. There was a cake on the counter, a couple of balloons hanging on the ceiling and Hank had hung up a banner that said:   
Happy Birthday Connor, Conan and Caleb!!

Veronica made that one. 

In front of him were 5 presents, still unwrapped. The wrapping paper, tape and scissors were right next to it.

‘Alright, that is what I need to finish,’ he mumbled to himself, but first getting a cup of coffee. 

It took him another hour to get everything done and fell asleep on the couch, Sumo by his side. 

That sleep only lasted about two hours, before the first cries came from the nursery. 

Hank fell of the couch, got up and made his way into the hallway. He opened the door and saw Conan standing in his crib, cries turning into happy screeches as he saw his dad. Hank walked up to him. ‘Happy birthday, Conan!’ he whispered while picking him up out of the crib, changed him, redressed him and got him into the kitchen. He sat him in his high chair and went over to his bedroom, where he quickly changed from his pyjamas into his new clothes he had bought for the special occasion. Soon after he got changed, Connor and Caleb had woken up as well.

\- 4 hours later -

Hank’s house was filled with people. Officer Wilson, Officer Person and Officer Miller were there, as well as Veronica and her daughters. Even Detective Reed was there for the party. They all had sung Happy Birthday and the boys blew out the candles on the cake Hank had gotten (he can’t bake, he didn’t even try). The boys were currently opening the presents, when Hank heard the letter box clank. He gave Chris his camera, asking to take some nice pictures, while he got the thing that came through the letter box.

It was a card, a birthday card to be specific. It had colourful balloons and a dog with a party hat. Hank smiled at the front, but was disgusted when he turned the card around and read what was written on it.

‘’Happy birthday boys! I hope you have a fantastic day! Can’t wait to get you home all safe! Love you Isaac Julian, Hudson Cedric and Nolan Everett!  
Xoxo Granny’’

Hank knew enough. She was out there again, on the hunt for his boys. He notified Wilson, Person, Miller and Reed immediately. They said that they would look out for her and Hank didn’t have to worry, because it was his sons birthday after all. 

Caleb let out a screech. ‘Dada! Dada!’ Hank looked over at his son. He’d gotten a new, giant stuffed Piglet plush. Caleb loved Piglet and loved every single toy that he had of Piglet. 

\- Another 2 hours later -

‘Well, before everyone leaves, I want to thank you all for coming, but me and the boys have another special gift for someone,’ Hank said, standing behind his sons highchairs. ‘Veronica, will you come forward?’ 

Veronica smiled and walked towards Hank and the boys. Hank handed her a wrapped gift. ‘Open!’ Connor said. Veronica ripped the paper off and revealed a black box. She opened it and inside was a letter and a necklace with a golden locket.

‘Hank, what is this?’ she asked. 

‘Just read the letter,’

She opened the envelope, got out the letter and started reading it out loud. 

‘’Dear Veronica (and Molly and Olivia),  
We wanted to thank you for being such a great help the past year until now! Taking care of us when dada couldn’t or had to work and giving us lots and lots of love!  
Dear Veronica, will you do the honour of becoming our godmother?’’

‘Oh Hank,’ Veronica said after reading the last sentence, tearing up.

‘So, what do you say?’ Hank asked.

‘Yes! Of course I say yes!’ she hugged Hank and kissed every boy on the head.

The necklace had a locket, which on the left side had a picture of Molly and Olivia and on the right side a picture of Connor, Conan and Caleb.  
The best present Veronica could ever wish for.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are growing up and Hank doesn't know if he can handle that yet. Veronica comes to console him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HEY! I'M STILL ALIVE!  
Sorry for the long wait for the next chapter, school started again and let me tell you, the life of a teacher isn't easy peasy lemon squeezy. But I did my best for you guys and here it is!  
I hope you enjoy!

‘Come on Conan, you can do it!’ Hank was sat on the floor, one of his triplet sons in front of him, holding onto the couch. Hank was learning the boys to walk.  
Caleb was already getting the hang of it, Connor was hesitant at first, but want to try every possible moment and Conan… Oh poor Conan. He was scared. Hank didn’t know why, but every time he was learning with Conan, he had a frightened look on his small, chubby face. His blue eyes would flood with tears before he had even taken a step or let go of the couch. 

‘It’s okay buddy, I’ll catch you,’ Hank was holding his hands out for his son to fall into once he was close enough. Conan took one step to the left, still holding onto the couch. ‘Alright buddy, tiny steps is fine,’ he started to encourage his son, with the hope of it being successful. 

Just when Conan was about to let go of the couch and take his first step towards his dad, Connor half-waddled, half-crawled in the room, crying his eyes out.

‘DADA! BOO-BOO!’ Connor cried, waving his blanket around, pointing at his head. Conan grabbed the couch as fast as he could and slowly sat down on the floor, watching his brother and dad.

Hank got a hold of Connor and hugged him tight to comfort him. There was a bump starting to form on his head. Maybe he’d hit it? Hank kissed the bump on his sons head. A waterfall of tears and snot stained Hank’s t-shirt, but he was used to that by now. Sometimes, he wishes they were already old enough to go to school and learn to do things on their own. That would still be 3 years from now.

Suddenly, Caleb was by Hank’s side. ‘Con ad?’ that was his way of asking if someone was sad. Caleb was the only one who could stand on his own, without the help of furniture or anything.

Yep, they were already starting to talk. The boys couldn’t make entire sentences yet, but Hank could understand them. 

Sometimes he wished they were old enough for school, sometimes he wished they could stay little forever. Hank loved his boys, he would do anything for them. 

Last week, their ‘’grandmother’’, mrs. Michaelsson was arrested. She had tried to break into Hank’s house. Molly had apparently seen it and told Veronica, who immediately called the police. Gavin was the one who sped to the house and got a hold of her. Now, mrs. Michaelsson was stuck in a holding cell in the DPD department, waiting for her interrogation. 

Hank was scared that she could some day kidnap his boys when they are older. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice that Conan had walked over to him, on his own, not even with a little help of the couch.

‘Conan? Did you walk over here yourself?’ Hank asked his son, suddenly very confused. Conan looked a little scared, but nodded. Hank set Connor aside, grabbed Conan and hoisted him into the air.

‘My boy!! I am so proud!! You can walk!’ he laughed at his son, letting him ‘’fly’’ in the air. Conan laughed incredibly hard. 

‘What are you two laughing so hard about?’ Veronica asked, standing in the opening of the front door.

‘All my boys can walk!’ Hank smiled brightly at his friend. 

‘Really?’ Veronica looked amazed. ‘It took way longer with Molly and Olivia! How did you do that?’

‘No idea, they just… walked!’ Hank was also amazed. His boys were really growing up.

Hank suddenly looked sad.

‘What’s the matter, Hank?’ Hank sat Conan on the floor and took a seat on the couch.

‘They’re really growing up now, I just realised that,’ 

‘Yeah, but that’s life, they can’t stay little forever,’ Veronica sat next to him. ‘I wished that I could keep my girls little forever, but Molly is becoming 8 next month, for goodness sake!’ she put a hand on his shoulder. ‘It will be alright, Hank, believe me,’

‘Otherwise, I’ll be here for you,’ she gave him a soft smile. It made Hank’s heart flutter. Wait, what was that?

He put his hand over Veronica’s. ‘I appreciate it, really Veronica, thank you,’

‘DADA!’ Caleb called. Hank broke his gaze off Veronica’s eyes (oops, had he been staring at her?) and looked over to his son. Caleb was holding Connor’s hand and they were walking together.

‘Oh my, they’re really walking,’ Veronica giggled.

Hank smiled. ‘Yes, they are,’

‘And I am incredibly proud of them,’


End file.
